Fécamp

Fécamp (fākäNˈ) [key], town (1990 pop. 21,143), Seine-Maritime dept., N France. A major port from the 12th to 17th cent., when Le Havre superseded it, Fécamp is now a resort on the English Channel with a casino, sports facilities, and a beach. The town also has shipyards, and food, textile, and machine-building industries. Fécamp dates back to Roman times. A monastery founded there c.660 became a pilgrimage site. Destroyed by Norsemen, it was rebuilt at the end of the 10th cent. and became the Benedictine Abbey of the Trinity. The abbey church, a magnificent example of 12th-century Norman architecture, has numerous additions from the 14th cent. Fécamp is famous for benedictine liqueur, which was first made by the monks in the 16th cent. and which is now made by a private company on the grounds of the old abbey.